Characterisation of carbon blacks produced by solar thermal dissociation of methane

Rodat, Sylvain; Abanades, Stéphane; Grivei, Eusebiu; Patrianakos, Giorgos; Zygogianni, Alexandra; Konstandopoulos, Athanasios G.; Flamant, Gilles

Characterisation of carbon blacks produced by solar thermal dissociation of methane

2011

Solar methane dissociation appears as a possible route toward a hydrogen-based economy. The competitiveness of the process strongly depends on the carbon black properties and economic value. At CNRS-PROMES, a 50kW tubular solar reactor was developed to produce carbon black and hydrogen from methane. The reaction was carried out in a graphite receiver crossed by seven graphite tubes heated up by concentrated solar radiations at the 1MW CNRS solar furnace. The temperatures ranged between 1608K and 1928K and the methane flow-rates varied from 10.5 to 21NL/min. Total methane dissociation was reached with hydrogen yield higher than 80% and the carbon yield was drastically affected by the acetylene by-product. The carbon samples were analysed in detail and their properties were compared to a commercial conductive grade carbon black. Transmission electron microscopy showed primary particles of 10–70nm diameter. The crystallinity of the samples was characterised by Raman spectroscopy. It was also possible to correlate the specific surface area with the reaction temperature and with the concentrations of residual methane and of the acetylene by-product. The resistivity and the structure of the agglomerates were determined by simultaneous measurements of the conductivity and the density under compression.

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